It is ironical that someone should be calling for Australia to promote the de-communalisation of land overseas, when Australia is communalising its land as never before through so many so-called environmental laws. Instead of land being vested in the collectivity of the local village, it’s vested in the collectivity of the State. It's not about "the environment", it's about power. If you want native vegetation, or the corroborate frog, you need to pay the costs of producing it yourself. Laws intended to produce such goods by stealing the land use rights from private farmers are just a modern form of land communism.

So it's a case of physician, health thyself, surely? One look at AusAid's website will show you that it's nothing but a vehicle for statists and totalitarians to indulge themselves in any dream of social engineering that they feel like - all paid for with other people's money of course.

There are two fatal flaws under all overseas aid. Firstly, they never call it "violence-based thieving overseas aid" do they? But the government always gets the funds by threatening to attack and imprison it subjects. The moral dimension is always disregarded.

And secondly, it’s always assumed that the money if spent by government is going to go to satisfy the more urgent or important wants of people here and overseas, than if it were left in the hands of its owners and producers.

But of course that's precisely the flawed reasoning underlying communism itself! If it were justified there would be no justification for private property whatsoever. Society would be both fairer and more physically productive with *all* productive property in government hands.

Not only does this idea have no basis in reason or reality whatsoever but we've just come through a century when it's caused millions upon millions upon millions upon millions upon millions of human deaths, mostly by starvation of people by their own governments!

Involuntary communism under any name has no ethical or economic justification whatsoever. Violence- and thieving-based foreign aid should be abolished, freeing more Australians to fund their charitable giving voluntarily.

Fully agree and now you can start with the aboriginal Land Councils of the centre and Cape York.

All aid, whether it be overseas or at home to Aboriginal communities should be ceased. Most of it goes into the pockets of the bureaucrats who administer it and very little of it goes toward the folks for whom it is intended.

David

I'll say it for the umteenth time here, overseas aid should be in australian manufactured goods only, no money, full stop !

Aid should be used to strengthen Australia's position in our region. What I mean by this is that it should be used as a tool to influence countries and people in our region to develop institutions, values and relationships that will be mutually beneficial.

Think of it this way, if we have a strong and friendly relationship with Indonesia (both the government and people), minimising extremism and strengthening democracy and education, we are less likely to head toward a military confrontation. In the long run we will save money by requiring less military spending compared to one that is preparing for a potential confrontation. This is just one example.

Correctly spent, aid should be mutually beneficial and should provide long-term savings for the Australian people. The $$$ are not the problem, it is the people who are spending/wasting the $$$.